Counterflashing



March 9, 1965 H. A. WECKERLY ETAL 3,172,236

COUNTERFLASHING Filed May 20, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 i 28 y 40 (f I INVENTORS I HUGH A- WECKERLY I Fig. 2 BY HUGH o. WECKERLY Mam}! 1965 H. A. WECKERLY ETAL 3, 7

COUNTERFLASHING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 20, 1963 INVENTORS H A. WECKERLY H o WECKERLY 151 x &- m

Fig4

United States Patent 3,172,236 COUNTERFLASHING Hugh A. Weckerly, 1615 Svea Court, Lemon Grove, Calif., and Hugh D. Weckerly, 2972 Chatsworth Blvd., San Diego 6, Calif.

Filed May 20, 1963, Ser. No. 281,516 1 Claim. (Cl. -43) The present invention relates generally to counterflashing for roof construction and more particularly to a counterflashing which overlaps the usual or standard roof flashing and which may be readily lifted and secured in inoperative position during repair or replacement of the roof flashing.

In building construction, when a vertical wall such as a higher rise portion of a building, a parapet, chimney or the like extends above the roof line, the roofing materlal is extended marginally upwardly beyond the angle defined by the roof and said vertical wall to form a flashing. To prevent leaks between this flashing and the vertical wall a counterflashing must be used. The counterflashings generally in use consist of a securing means or reglet formed of sheet metal adapted to be secured to the wall above the flashing and a sheet metal strip overlapping the flashing and secured to the reglet by some anchoring means. We are thoroughly familiar with prior art structures and this prior art does not include adequate means for repair and/or replacement of the flashing when the roofing material requires replacement.

In currently used constructions of this character it is necessary to make separate installations of reglet and counterflashing. This adds to building costs. When roofing repairs become necessary the complete counterflashing and anchoring means is removed, according to prior art procedures, while the work is in progress. This also adds to labor costs and introduces the probability of damage to the counterflashing.

It is accordingly the primary object of this invention to provide an improved counterflashing which does not require a separate installation and can be installed at the time the -wall facing is applied.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved counterflashing which can be installed with readily available building materials.

It is a still further and important object of this invention to provide an improved flexible counterflashing and holding means therefor which makes it possible to lift the lower edge of the counterflashing and hook it on the holding means during reroofing operations, without complete removal of the counterflashing.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a counterflashing which is adaptable to all types of building construction.

Finally, it is an object of this invent-ion to provide a counterflashing of the aforementioned character which is simple and convenient to use and which will give gen erally efficient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification, particularly pointed out in the claim, and illustrated in the drawings, which form a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of our improved counterflashing;

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view showing the counterflashing of FIGURE 1 installed;

FIGURE 3 is a view showing the counterflashing hooked on the holding means in position to repair or replace the roofing;

3,172,236 Patented Mar. 9, 1965 FIGURE 4 shows our counterflashing with a modified form of wall construction;

FIGURE 5 is a view of a modified form of flashing and holding means; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of an alternative edge arrangement for the flashing.

In the specification and throughout the several views like characters of reference are used to denote similar and like parts.

FIGURE 1 shows a section of stock material used in construction of the counterflashing of the present invention. Essentially this counterflashing consists of an elongated strip of flexible material 20 which may either be of indeterminate length or may be initially formed in a number of standardized lengths. The material used should be waterproof and resistant to the elfects of heat and weather. Any of the well known synthetic plastic materials having the desired characteristics have been found to be satisfactory.

One longitudinal edge 22 of strip 20 has suitably secured thereto a thin metallic reinforcing member 24 which covers both sides of the strip and is bent back upon itself to provide a hook-shaped edge which is generally U-shaped in cross section, as clearly shown. We prefer to use copper or aluminum or alloys thereof for member 24 but other metals or alloys which are resistant to the efifects of Weather could be used equally as well.

In FIGURE 2 we have shown one form of our improved counterflashing installed on the vertical Wall of a frame building faced with stucco. Numeral 26 indicates the conventional wood studding that forms part of the building frame. A wood plaster ground 28, which forms a finishing strip for stucco wall 29, is secured to frame 26 by double headed nails 30 which are spaced along the length of the building wall in the usual manner. Interposed between plaster ground 28 and frame 26 and also secured to the frame 26 by double headed nails 30 is our improved counterflashing 20, the lower edge 22 of which overlaps flashing 32. As shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 flashing 32 is an extension of roofing 34 which covers roof 36, extends over the cant 38 and upwardly for the desired distance on the outer surface of wall 26. It will be evident from the disclosure in FIGURE 2 that the overlapping of counterflashing 20 with flashing 32 forms a very effective water and weather tight joint.

Installation of counterflashing 20 is relatively easy and requires no reglet o-r specially formed securing means. The same means, double headed nails 30, that secure the wood plaster ground in position also serve to retain and position the counterflashing. It will be noted that double headed nails 39 form a radially projecting shoulder or ledge defined by the outer head 40, the purpose of which will now be described.

It is frequently necessary to replace or repair roofing 34 and/or flashing 32. In prior art constructions this can only be accomplished by completely removing the counterflashing from its reglet or securing means. From the standpoint of labor involved this is a costly operation and frequently results in damaged counterflashing. In accordance with our improved structure repair or replacement of the roofing is greatly expedited. The counterflashing is simply lifted away from the flashing and the lower hooked edge engaged with the outer head 40 of double headed nail 30 as clearly shown in FIGURE 3. Flash-ing 32 is now exposed for repair and counterflashing 26 is removed completely from the work area.

In FIGURE 4 we have shown a modified form of our invention. The counterflashing strip 20 is substantially the same as that shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. A conventional single headed nail secures it to wall studding 26. A sheet metal plaster ground 44 is used in place of 3 the wood plaster ground of the previous modification, and this provides the finishing strip for stucco wall 29. The raised position of counterflashing 20 is shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 4.

In FIGURE we have shown a further modification in which the wood plaster ground of FIGURE 1 is used. The counterfiashing strip is slightly difierent from that previously described. Also, as clearly shown in FIGURE 5, conventional single headed nails 50 are used to secure the wood plaster ground 28 and counterfiashing strip 45 to wall frame 26.

The lower edge 46 of countertlashing strip 45 is provided with a plurality of spaced holes in which are positioned eyelets 43 of metal or other suitable material. These eyelets are spaced longitudinally of the strip at distances that are equal to the spacing of nails 50. It will be readily apparent, therefore, that the lower edge of strip 45 may be lifted and the eyelets 48 hooked over the heads of nails 50 to secure the counterflashing strip in a position where it will not interfere with work on the flashing 32.

Alternatively, as illustrated in FIGURE 6, counterflashing strip 52 may be provided with a return folded edge reinforcing member 54, with suitably spaced openings 56, instead of individual eyelets, to hook onto nails 50.

It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and

the specification and drawings are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

We claim:

The combination with a wall having flashing secured thereto of a counterflashing member comprising an elongated strip of flexible material;

means securing said strip to said wall with a lower portion of the strip in overlapping engaged relation to said flashing;

said means including an enlarged head portion spaced from said wall; and

a rigid, elongated member, U-shaped in cross section,

secured about the lower edge of said strip of flexible material including an upwardly and outwardly bent hook-like portion for cooperation with said enlarged head portion, whereby said strip may be suspended out of engagement with said flashing during repair or replacement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,377,349 5/21 Holder 47 1,905,017 4/33 Vallas 50-46 2,105,996 1/38 Byers 50--45 2,255,156 9/41 Figge 50-46 X 2,937,652 5/60 Zimmer et al. -6 3,011,824 12/61 Vassalo et al. l35l4 EARL I. WITMER, Primary Examiner.

JACOB SHAPIRO, Examiner. 

